One of the first ways we teach our children about our values is through the toys we choose to bring into our homes. By focusing on sustainable, eco-friendly toys, we are living the values we preach. The good news is there are more awesome, environmentally-conscious brands available than ever before.
GREEN TOYS|
Green Toys is a California-based company dedicated to manufacturing sustainable, classic toys for kids. All of their products are made from recycled milk jugs (BPA and phthalate free), are extremely durable, and 100% manufactured in the USA.
PLAN TOYS|
Plan Toys practice the “Three R’s” of green living: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Based in Palo Alto, CA, Plan Toys makes their well-designed products from sustainable rubber wood. All of their brightly-colored products are made using non-toxic, eco-friendly vegetable dyes. Their manufacturing plants and headquarters run on state-of-the-art solar installations and use biomass to run their machinery.
Plan Toys pays incredible attention to safety in their designs. All of their beautiful playthings feature rounded corners and ergonomically-sound design.
BLUE ORANGE GAMES|
Blue Orange Games thinks up some of most creative games on the market. One brilliant aspect of Blue Orange is that many of their games have variations of play, so Jack or Lucy won’t grow out of it so quickly, reducing the need to buy a new game each time Jr. outgrows the initial challenge.
Most of their games are made from solid wood. For every tree that is cut down to make their games, they plant two new ones! Even better, the wood gives them a lasting quality. If you lose a piece, no need to throw the game away, just go their website and order the piece you lost under the couch.
HAPE
Did you know that bamboo is an extremely sustainable resource and is so prevalent in certain parts of the world that it’s considered a weed? HaPe knows this, so they manufacture tons of their products from bamboo. They are dedicated to producing green toys that are fun, smart and eco-friendly.
All of these eco-friendly toys can be found at aMuse toys in Fells Point (1623 Thames Street – Fells Point and 2576 Quarry Lake Dr – Quarry Lake) www.aMuseToys.com. Miranda Altschuler is a local mom living in Fells Point; she is the art director at aMuse Toys and a regular contributor to their blog- www.amusetoysblog.com.
